In the first episode of 2017, The Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders breaks down the Rockies’ offseason moves, what still needs to be done and the state of the catching situation. Saunders finishes off the show by opening up the Rockies mailbag to answer questions about bullpen coach Darren Holmes, outfielder Gerardo Parra and shortstop Trevor Story.

How would closers Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen or Mark Melancon look in purple pinstripes? Should the Rockies bring back Matt Holliday? Rockies fans give their dream offseason scenarios, and beat writers Patrick Saunders and Nick Kosmider discuss. And of course, Patrick and Nick break down the biggest current story line in Rockies land: Who will be the next Rockies manager?

With the 2016 season in the rearview mirror, the offseason begins with the Rockies searching for a new manager. Beat writers Patrick Saunders and Nick Kosmider discuss the departure of Walt Weiss and the managerial search ahead. In the second segment, Patrick and Nick hand out end of season awards including team MVP, best pitcher, top rookie and most disappointing player of 2016. And finally, a parlor game: Which outfielder would you keep? Charlie Blackmon or Carlos Gonzalez.

Should Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu sit his way to the National League batting title? Colorado Rockies beat writer Nick Kosmider and Denver Post digital producer Jeff Bailey discuss the topic. They also grade GM Jeff Bridich’s moves from last offseason. And finally, did the Rockies make a mistake by releasing Jose Reyes?

In Episode 9 of the On The Rox podcast, Denver Post digital producer Jeff Bailey sits in with Rockies beat writer Nick Kosmider to discuss the team’s potential rotation in 2017, what the Rockies will do with all those outfielders, and how to fix the bullpen. It is also revealed that Jeff is a long-suffering Cubs fan enjoying the ride of his life this season. For the Rockies, however, there’s always next year.

In the newest episode of the On The Rox Podcast, Denver Post digital producer Jeff Bailey sits in with Rockies beat writer Patrick Saunders to discuss the latest story lines surrounding the team. One hot topic, could the Rockies move on from Walt Weiss, whose contract expires at the end of the season, and install someone like Bud Black at the helm? What moves does GM Jeff Bridich need to make as the Rockies enter their window to win? And coming down the stretch, can DJ LeMahieu win the NL batting title?

In this special second-half kick-starter edition of the On The Rox podcast, Patrick Saunders and Nick Groke talk about Rockies manager Walt Weiss, who continues on this season without a contract extension. Is that a clue? And Nick talks to Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about a triples machine and the chances of Charlie Blackmon landing with the Cardinals.

On the newest On The Rox, Patrick Saunders and Nick Groke get to the point quick: Can the Rockies survive June? It’s their most dreaded month. And who is the Rockies best pitcher? And which Rox will go to the All-Star Game? And Nick talks to C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer about what it means to be in a baseball rebuild. Did the Reds choose more wisely than the Rockies?

On The Rox is back in the janitor’s closet at Coors Field. But Patrick Saunders and Nick Groke are talking about the elephant in the room — Walt Weiss. He’s in a contract year. But there’s been no hint of an extension. What does his future hold with the Rockies? Also hear directly from Weiss talking about his closer, Jake McGee, with a podcast rundown of Colorado’s bullpen.

The game was postponed. And the re-scheduled date may help the Rockies again.

To make up their postponed April 28 game, the Rockies will host the Pirates on June 9 at Coors Field with a 3:10 p.m. first pitch.

Rescheduled games rarely work out ideally. But for the Pirates, this one may hurt. They play in Pittsburgh on June 8 and 10. So the Bucs will have to scramble out west, then fly back right away.

The Rockies start a homestand on June 10, so they’ll be returning anyway. But their June 8 game in Los Angeles has a 8:10 p.m. start (MT). So the Rox will have to hustle home.

Tickets from the April 28 game are valid for the June 9 game. Exchanges from the April 28 game can be made for any game throughout the season but must be made prior to the first pitch of the June 9 game.

The Pirates are not scheduled to play in Colorado again during the 2016 regular season. The Rockies will travel to Pittsburgh from May 20-22.

The tarp covered Coors Field on April 28 before bad weather forced the Rockies and Pirates into a postponement. (Nick Groke, The Denver Post)

Trevor Story of the Rockies hits a two-run triple in the ninth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on April 30. (Jennifer Stewart, Getty Images)

Major League Baseball on Monday named Rockies shortstop Trevor Story the National League rookie of the month. It was also the easiest decision MLB made Monday.

Story has torn into Colorado’s early-season schedule. His 10 homes runs in 22 games was tied for the major-league lead in April, alongside Nolan Arenado, Bryce Harper and Neil Walker. And he collected 20 RBIs.

His power numbers are extra-ordinary. 0f Story’s 24 hits in April 17 went for extra bases (10 HRs, four doubles, three triples). He hit a respectable, but not outstanding, .261 at the plate — and still compiled a 1.019 OPS because of his .324 OBP and .696 slugging percentage.

According to Elias, Story was just the third player since 1900 with at least 17 extra-base hits in the season’s first month. The other two: Joe DiMaggio (23 in 1936) and Albert Pujols (17 in 2001).

Or, as ESPN’s Jayson Stark pointed out, Andrew McCutchen, Joey Votto, Robinson Cano, Adam Jones, David Wright, Evan Longoria and Victor Martinez have never had 10 home runs and 17 extra-base hits in any month. Story did it in his first.

And as Patrick Saunders figured out, Story was the quickest player to reach seven home runs in a career (took him six games) — and his average home run distance is 421 feet, the third-longest mark among MLB players with at least five home runs.

Story’s .324 OBP is remarkable considering his major issue so far. He had 37 strikeouts in April against just
nine walks.

Texas Rangers right fielder Nomar Mazara won the AL rookie of the month award with two HRs, seven RBIs and a .333/.392/.460 slash line.

Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals and Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles won the leagues player of the month awards.

— Trevor Story has hit 10 home runs this season, tied for most April home runs by a rookie in MLB history. Story started out fast, hitting seven home runs in his first six games, the fastest player in MLB history to reach seven career home runs. His average home run distance is 421 feet, third-longest among MLB players with at least five home runs. Six of Story’s 10 home runs have been 425 feet or longer, most in MLB.

— Nolan Arenado’s 471-foot home run off San Diego’s James Shields on April 10 at Coors Field was the longest home run hit this month. This was the longest home run of Arenado’s career by 24 feet (447 feet, 2015).

— Arenado has hit 10 home runs this season, tied with Story for most in MLB. All but one of the home runs was pulled to left field. Arenado, who made his major league debut in 2013, has pulled 66 of his 80 home runs, not hitting even one homer to right field (14 to center). Since the start of 2013, Arenado is the only player to hit more than 45 home runs without at least one of those homers hit to the opposite field.

And then there is this tidbit from the Elias Sports Bureau:

— Story doubled and tripled in the Rockies’ 5-2 win at Arizona Saturday, giving him 17 extra-base hits since the first game on April 4. The only players in modern history (since 1900) with as many extra-base hits in the month in which they made their major-league debut are Joe DiMaggio (23 XBH in May 1936) and Albert Pujols (17 in April 2001).

Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon came off the 15-day disabled list Friday and was scheduled to start against Arizona. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

Phoenix — Quick hits from the Rockies’ clubhouse as they prepare for Friday night’s game at Arizona and begin a critical, 10-game road trip through the National League West:

— As expected, center fielder Charlie Blackmon (turf toe) came off the 15-day disabled list and starts in Friday’s game against the Diamondbacks. Because he had turf toe before, Blackmon said he was relieved that the injury didn’t become a chronic condition this time.

“Definitely,” Blackmon said. “I had it years ago (2012), so this time I did a really good job of managing it and taking care of it. So, having it go away quickly and getting to the point where I don’t think about it and don’t worry about it, is a relief.”

— To make room on the 25-man roster, the Rockies optioned outfielder Brandon Barnes to Triple-A Albuquerque. Though Barnes brings energy and defense to the team, he’s hitting just .194 with a .242 on-base percentage in 17 games (36 plate appearances).

— Right-handed reliever Jason Motte continues to build up strength in his sore shoulder. He threw a 25-pitch bullpen Friday morning and said he’s pain free. He will accompany the team for the rest of the road trip, but there is no target day for his return.

Motte, who signed a two-year, $10 million free-agent contract with the Rockies, has yet to pitch in a regular-season game.

— In the wake of Thursday’s postponed game against the Pirates, the Rockies’ rotation lines up this way:

On The Rox returns to get to the bottom of the Rockies’ suddenly shallow pitching depth after Jorge De La Rosa landed on the shelf. What’s next for the fearful five? Nick Groke and Patrick Saunders also argue an over/under for Trevor Story’s home run total. And we talk to Jonah Keri of CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated about where Story fits in with the other most impressive rookies this season.

Trevor Story (27) of the Colorado Rockies celebrates his solo home run during the fourth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Coors Field on April 27, 2016 in Denver. (Justin Edmonds, Getty Images)

The Trevor-ending Story continues.

In the fourth inning Wednesday with the Rockies down 7-0, Story cranked a 427-foot solo shot over the center field wall against Pittsburgh’s Jonathon Niese to put Colorado on the board.

Rockies manager Walt Weiss doesn’t think much about the idea of using four outfielders at Coors Field.(Mike Zarrilli, Getty Images)

Manager Walt Weiss doesn’t think much of the theory that the Rockies should experiment with using four outfielders at Coors Field against certain, flyball-prone power hitters.

“Ridiculous idea.”

“Makes absolutely no sense.”

“It would never work.”

“I would never take away an infielder.”

Those are some of the key phrases Weiss shot back when I asked if he’d read my Sunday column about the pros and cons of experimenting with a four-man outfield at the hitters’ paradise known as Coors Field.

Weiss, of course, played shortstop for 14 big-league seasons, so I figured he’d be against the idea. But former Rockies outfielder Cory Sullivan, now an analyst for Root Sports, also rejected the idea.

“Coors Field would be the best testing ground for this sort of thing,” Olney wrote. “Let’s say that an acute flyball hitter like (Baltimore’s) Chris Davis arrived to face the Rockies. So far this season, Davis has put the ball in the air three times as often as when he puts the ball on the ground.

“In a ballpark in which there is an enormous potential for extra-base hits, in the outfield gaps, why not leave the left side of the infield almost entirely open and instead devote an infielder to the outfield defense?”

Weiss countered by saying that giving up hits through holes in the infield would, over the long run, hurt a team much more than the threat of triples and doubles to the gaps, or bloop singles landing in the shallow part of the outfield.

Yet, what bothers Weiss most of all, is the national perception that Coors Field turns baseball into some kind of circus.

“A lot of people from the outside, who never see games here, just decide that we have to come up with all sorts of new schemes and ideas about the game,” he said. “It’s still baseball and if you play good baseball you can win here.”

Weiss has frequently said that players such as star third basemen Nolan Arenado, don’t get the respect and admiration they should from those outside Colorado because of the Coors Field stigma.

Third baseman Justin Turner (10) of the Los Angeles Dodgers tags out Trevor Story (27) of the Colorado Rockies as he attempts to triple in the fifth inning at Coors Field on April 22, 2016 in Denver. (Doug Pensinger, Getty Images)

Rockies rookie Trevor Story has had some amazing highlights so far early into this season.

Unfortunately for him, he was on the wrong end of Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig’s latest feat on Friday.

A sign on the green wall in front of the Rockies’ bullpen at Coors Field marks “375” feet from home plate. From just inside the warning track, Puig barehanded a ball off that wall, hopped into momentum and rainbowed a throw about 360 feet on a line to third base.

He nailed a sliding Trevor Story for one very long out.

Rockies manager Walt Weiss called it a “superman throw.”

“I didn’t think he had a shot,” Weiss said. “It reminded me of that Bo Jackson throw (in Seattle), when he punched out Harold Reynolds at the Kingdome.”

Veteran catcher Nick Hundley, who was eligible Friday to return from the seven-day concussion disabled list, remained off the Rockies roster. But he probably will return this weekend.

“Today will be a big day for a decision,” Hundley said before what he hoped was a final set of tests Friday afternoon. “I’m feeling great — hitting, catching, everything.”

Hundley took a foul ball off his facemask in a game against the Giants last week. He was dazed when it happened, but remained in the game. He traveled with the team on a road trip to Chicago and Cincinatti, but was replaced on the active roster by backup Dustin Garneau.

Hundley has already cleared concussion protocols, but the Rockies wanted to test Hundley again in a range of motions, including his ability in full gear behind the plate.

“He’s probably in play here in the next few days,” manager Walt Weiss said.

Tony Wolters, the 23-year-old rookie playing in Hundley’s place, went 0-for-3 Friday, but he collected an RBI and picked off Corey Seager from first on a snap throw in the third inning of the Rockies’ 7-5 win over the Dodgers.

Trevor Story (27) of the Colorado Rockies hits a solo home run in the ninth inning. The Colorado Rockies played the San Diego Padres Friday, April 8, 2016 on opening day at Coors Field in Denver. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

Rockies rookie sensation Trevor Story’s game-worn opening-day jersey went for a whopping $12,250 on Major League Baseball’s auction site.

In comparison, star third baseman Nolan Arenado’s jersey sold for $4,050 and Carlos Gonzalez’s went for $1,700.

When Story wore the jersey, he blasted two home runs for Colorado against the Padres on April 8 at Coors Field, giving him six through the first four games of the season. There were 117 bids in the nine-day auction.

Story paraphernalia has skyrocketed ever since the shortstop had his MLB-record start to the season. A 2011 Bowman Chrome draft autographed card went for $21.61 on eBay on April 1. That same card is now selling for roughly $135 ungraded, a 625-percent increase.

Patrick, a third-generation Colorado native, is back for his second stint covering the Rockies. He first covered the team from 2005-2009, helping chronicle “Rocktober” in 2007 and also following the team’s playoff run in 2009.

Nick Groke has worked at The Denver Post since 1997, as a sports reporter, city reporter, entertainment writer and digital editor and producer, among other newsroom posts. He also writes regularly about boxing, soccer, MMA and NASCAR.